Did you feel life changed when you hit 30?
If you are not yet 30, how do you feel about the age 30?
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Aloha Friday is a weekly posting all in the spirit of fun and relaxation. No heavy, brain-stormed posts, just a simple question for readers to answer in the comments. Visit the Aloha Friday HQ @ An Island Life.
Sorry for the lack of response. There’s just too many things in my plate right now I’m on the verge of throwing up. First, the little girl is sick. I was called by her teacher yesterday saying A. had been really silent and inactive which is really unusual. When the teacher checked, my daughter was high with fever.
They have a school program this afternoon and her teacher says they would miss their loudest singer if she doesn’t show up!
Hubby picked her up from school yesterday and brought her home. I went home at 1pm to take care of her. So it was another sleepless night for me last night and with no internet at work for the past 2 days, I couldn’t have access to the comments left on this blog and on my other blog. I love comments and usually respond to them and it pains me not to be able to do that right now.
I will be back. Please bear with me.
Thursday Thirteen banner courtesy of Harlekwin
13 MEANINGS WHEN SHE SAYS…
1. Do what you want. - You’ll pay for this later.
2. We need to talk. - I need to complain.
3. I’m not emotional! I’m not overreacting! - I have PMS.
4. Be romantic, turn out the lights. - I have flabby thighs.
5. You’re certainly attentive tonight. - Is sex all you ever think about!?
6. I’m not upset. - Of course, I am upset, you moron!
7. I’ll be ready in a minute. - Kick off your shoes and find a good game on TV.
8. You have to learn to communicate. - Just agree with me.
9. How much do you love me? - I did something today you’re really not going to like…
10. Do you love me? - I’m going to ask for something expensive.
11. Sure, go ahead. - I don’t want you to.
12. I don’t want to talk about it. - Go away, I’m still building up evidence against you.
13. Are you listening to me!? - Too late…you’re dead.
I have a daughter who will be turning 4 years next month. She is going to school and is in a kindergarten class since September of this year. She had been attending nursery/daycare since she was a year and four months old when we were in Japan. She loves singing and really good at it, words, tune and all but I have one doubt:
How do toddlers who don’t know how to read, sing the words of a song?
With no lyrics to read and no capability to read and understand written words yet, our toddler learns song (not necessarily kiddie songs as she knows the lyrics to songs I love too) by repeating words she hear adults speak. She sings songs, sometimes the same song, especially if it is newly learned one over and over in a day. For adults, it may seem dull but the child is on to something. Repetition helps kids learn.
I find it amazing how she tirelessly repeats the song/s over and over again and become better and better with the words and its pronunciations.
Last night, when she was alone playing with her flashcards, she picked up the PC mic and started singing her lungs out. The words and the rhythm of the song are all unfamiliar to me and I listened closely, I discovered that she had been inventing the words by herself! She was looking at the computer screen and since it is off, she can see her reflection in the monitor. I quietly looked at her and amused myself of my little star.
My birthday celebration was an eventful one. I went home after work at 2:30 pm last Thursday, kissed my napping daughter, changed my clothes and headed towards the kitchen, ready to tackle 5 different recipes.
In between chopping veggies, meats and what nots and chatting with my mother (we have an open kitchen beside the living room), I didn’t realize that I had been standing for 4 hours straight! By 7 pm, everything was done except that I had to take a shower to look like a birthday celebrant than a kitchen maid.
Some friends arrived and we said our prayer at the table and had dinner. My daughter led the happy birthday song, much to everyone’s delight. Within 10-15 minutes everyone was full and happy. Four hours of preparation and less than 15 minutes of consumption, everyone must have been hungry! lol!
Then we all played games and chatted until the wee hours of the night. I had a great time and so happy to know I won’t need to wake up early for work the next day as Friday is my normal day-off.
My husband did not heed my request to stop buying flowers for me. He came home with a bouquet of 31 multi-colored roses and a very big flower vase.
I am thankful for another year of a fulfilled and blessed life. Thankful for my parents who gave me the chance to live and to God who never failed to guide me and helped me in so many ways, if not, I couldn’t have handled it all.
I am thankful for my family, who even the forgetful males that they are, never forgot to greet me on my birthday. Special thanks also to friends who are sweet enough to reach out and send wishes to the wind. We may be miles apart but all of you remain in my heart.
He was the captain of the college football team. Manly and vigorous, tall and appealing, so many girls would die for his attention but right now, at this dead of the night, his eyes are only meant for the college scholar, Ms. Beauty and Brains Rachel Moore. For Rachel, everything seemed so right. Ah, the flaming passion of young love!
The first time she looked at him, she knew, without the slightest doubt that she had fallen in love. If not, how could she explain all the electrical impulses that runs through her being at the an intensifying speed? All those songs and movies about love seemed to hit home.
One kiss should not make any difference, she thought. The next moments were magical. She wished she had the power to freeze time.
But what was once beautiful and heartwarming transformed into heart break, self-pity and shame overnight. Suddenly his heart and attention was not hers anymore. The vexing of a social problem stirred whispers in her community and school.
Fast forward one year later, Rachel was looking at a brochure of a community program aimed to help people like her. She was scared, in despair, abandoned but not alone. Echoing through the hallways of her newly rented room, a baby cries. She hurriedly brushed off the tears in her cheeks, picked up the pieces of glossy papers scattered all over the small dining table and headed towards the crib and reclaimed her posture.
A misspent youth would not stop her from pursuing her dreams. Now she has to face the world, twice as brave and twice as wise, for her own sake and that of her son’s.
*****
This (fiction) writing exercise is fueled by the writing prompt “Misspent youth” at Sunday Scribblings.
Children Learn What They Live by Dorothy Law Nolte
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
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I personally think that good parenting with the goal of raising better human beings can be summarized in these short but meaningful sentences. We try to live by it, sometimes we do forget, being faulty humans that we are. When I build a house I want these lines printed on the walls.
If you are pregnant, would you rather know the gender of the baby or not?
I did not ask the doctor when I was pregnant 4 years ago. It was pointless anyway as the baby was not cooperating; always turning its back during ultrasound. By the final month, the doctor said maybe we will just be in for a surprise because although he has an idea that it would be a girl, he is not sure, no physical evidence seen, if you know what I mean.
But deep inside me, I have always known it would be a baby girl and have started calling her by her name since the day I knew I was with child.
*Go visit the Aloha Friday HQ @ An Island Life.
As this post goes live, I will be turning 31.
Some years ago, I was wondering how it would feel to be on this side of 30 and now I am finally here. I thought people beyond thirty must feel, talk, laugh and act differently. But I still feel the same. Like they say, age is just a number so this age thing is not bugging me so much.
Personally, I think 31 is a great age. I have addressed issues some women start to panic with. I am married, have a career and a wonderful kid. I am not out in the bar hopping at night looking for a prospective date or soul mate.
Three whole decades plus 1/10 of life on earth. How do I feel? I feel great and I know it only gets better.
